For one, Steve Greenberg says let’s go ahead and put the Irish at No. 1 and let Alabama and Georgia duke it out Saturday for the right to play them. But Matt Hayes is clearly not impressed with Notre Dame when stacked up against the other elite teams. He has them No. 5 behind three SEC teams and Oregon.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are headed to the BCS title game—but that doesn't mean they should be a No. 1 team. (AP Photo)

STEVE GREENBERG’S ANALYSIS AND TOP 25 POLL

Well, I’m plenty impressed with Kent State and Northern Illinois—two teams that I think could play with any of the also-rans from any of the big-boy leagues.

But enough about them, because all America seems to care about now is the BCS. And that brings us to one gnarly question:

Is there any point in ranking Notre Dame No. 1 when we all know—you, me, everybody—that the Irish will be big underdogs in the national title game?

The answer here is yes. Notre Dame can play with Alabama or Georgia. And it will on Jan. 7 in Miami. We’re looking at a low-scoring slugfest regardless of who opposes the Irish.

1. Notre Dame

2. Alabama

3. Oregon

4. Georgia

5. Florida

6. Ohio State

7. Stanford

8. LSU

9. Texas A&M

10. Kansas State

11. South Carolina

12. Clemson

13. Oklahoma

14. Florida State

15. Nebraska

16. Kent State

17. Michigan

18. Oregon State

19. Oklahoma State

20. Northern Illinois

21. Utah State

22. Northwestern

23. UCLA

24. Boise State

25. Vanderbilt

MATT HAYES’ ANALYSIS AND TOP 25 POLL

I’m tired of the “it’s who they are” excuses. Tired of the unbeaten argument. Somehow that washes over a triple overtime win over a poor Pitt team. Or ugly wins over bad Boston College and Purdue teams.

So I’m going with the eyeball test, and right now Notre Dame is no better than fifth in the nation.